CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) announced today that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion by consensus recommending the approval of KALYDECO (ivacaftor) for people with cystic fibrosis (CF) ages 6 and older who have at least one copy of the G551D mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. KALYDECO is the first medicine to treat the underlying cause of CF, a rare, genetic disease caused by defective or missing CFTR proteins resulting from mutations in the CFTR gene. In people with the G551D mutation, KALYDECO helps the defective CFTR protein function more normally. An estimated 1,100 people in Europe have this mutation.

The CHMP opinion was based on positive findings from two global Phase 3 studies in which KALYDECO demonstrated unprecedented improvements in breathing and other measures of disease for people ages 6 and older with this specific genetic mutation. People treated with KALYDECO experienced significant and sustained improvements in lung function, weight gain and certain quality of life measurements compared to those on placebo. In addition, people who took KALYDECO were 55 percent less likely to have pulmonary exacerbations, or periods of worsening in the signs and symptoms of the disease that often require treatment with antibiotics and hospital visits, than those who received placebo. Fewer people in the KALYDECO treatment groups discontinued treatment due to adverse events than in the placebo groups. The majority of adverse events associated with KALYDECO were mild to moderate. Adverse events most commonly observed in those taking KALYDECO included headache, upper respiratory tract infection (common cold), stomach pain and diarrhea.

While there has been great progress in cystic fibrosis treatment during the last few decades, we are still only treating the symptoms and complications of the disease, said Stuart Elborn, M.D., KALYDECO investigator and President of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society. KALYDECO is a fundamentally different approach to the way we treat cystic fibrosis because it targets the underlying cause of the disease. In clinical trials, KALYDECO helped people with a specific genetic mutation breathe more easily, gain weight and generally feel better.

The CHMPs positive opinion will now be reviewed by the European Commission, which has the authority to approve medicines for the European Union. The European Commission generally follows the recommendation of the CHMP and typically issues marketing approval within three to four months.

Since 1998, Vertex has been committed to developing new medicines to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, said Peter Mueller, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Research and Development at Vertex. KALYDECO represents an important achievement in this ongoing effort. We look forward to working with the European Medicines Agency to bring KALYDECO, our first new medicine in Europe, to people with CF as quickly as possible.

KALYDECO was discovered as part of a collaboration with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc., the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

About Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis is a rare, life-threatening genetic disease affecting approximately 35,000 people in Europe and 70,000 people worldwide. Today, the median predicted age of survival for a person with CF is approximately 38 years but the median age of death remains in the mid-20s. There are more than 1,800 known mutations in the CFTR gene. Some of these mutations, which can be determined by a genetic, or genotyping test, lead to CF by creating non-working or too few CFTR proteins at the cell surface. The absence of working CFTR proteins results in poor flow of salt and water into and out of the cell in a number of organs, including the lungs. This leads to the buildup of abnormally thick, sticky mucus that can cause chronic lung infections and progressive lung damage.

In some people, CFTR proteins are present at the cell surface but do not work properly. One type of this dysfunction is known as the G551D mutation.

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Vertex Receives European CHMP Positive Opinion for KALYDECO™ (ivacaftor), the First Medicine to Treat the Underlying ...